| Oracle Racing | |
BMW Oracle Racing |
|
| Yacht Club: | Golden Gate Yacht Club |
|---|---|
| Nation: | United States |
| Team Principal: | Larry Ellison |
| Skipper: | Russell Coutts Sten Mohr |
| Established: | 2000 |
| Victories: | |
| Sail Numbers: | USA-71, USA -76, USA-87, USA-98 |
BMW Oracle Racing is an American sailboat racing syndicate, initially formed to compete in the 2003 America’s Cup under the name Oracle. The syndicate is backed primarily by Larry Ellison, who made billions from Oracle’s database software. The team was renamed in August 2004 as Oracle BMW Racing a reflection of the German company's initial role within the team and subsequently revised again to BMW Oracle Racing to reflect increased involvement from BMW.
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History
2003 America's Cup
The team was created by purchasing the assets of Paul Cayard’s AmericaOne syndicate which was the losing finalist against Luna Rossa in the 2000 Louis Vuitton Cup. The syndicate got off to a rocky start with changes in the skipper position, going through Cayard, Chris Dickson and Peter Holmberg. Also, the St. Francis Yacht Club was unwilling to give Ellison the free hand he wanted in running the challenge for the 2003 America’s Cup, so Ellison took his money down the road to the Golden Gate Yacht Club. Oracle made it to the finals of the 2003 Louis Vuitton Cup, losing to Alinghi 5-1.
2007 America's Cup
BMW Oracle Racing was the Challenger-of-Record for the 2007 America’s Cup which was held in Valencia, Spain. BMW Oracle Racing, lost to Luna Rossa Challenge 5 to 1 in the 2007 Louis Vuitton Cup Semi Finals.
33rd America's Cup
Larry Ellison has hired Russell Coutts to be the CEO of the 33rd America's Cup campaign
In July 2007, BMW Oracle Racing filed a challenge with the Société Nautique de Genève for the 33rd America's Cup stating that they did not believe that SNG's hand picked challenger, Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV) was a qualified club under the Deed of Gift.
After extensive court action, Golden Gate Yacht Club (whose team is BMW Oracle Racing) was declared Challenger of Record and is scheduled to sail against Alinghi, in February 2010, in Valencia, Spain[1]. The boats will be 90-foot multihulls. However certain issues remain subject to ongoing litigation between the parties.
In February 2009 BMW Oracle Racing competed in the Louis Vuitton Pacific Series in Auckland, New Zealand, where they lost to arch-rival Alinghi in the semi-finals.
Boats
With the launching of their newest boat in January 2007, BMW Oracle Racing owns 4 IACC boats. USA 71 and USA 76 were built for the 2003 America’s Cup while USA 87 and USA 98 are built for the 2007 America’s Cup.
USA 87: On March 26, 2006, BMW Oracle Racing christened their new hull “USA 87”. There are many differences to the hull that has created speculation in the yachting world. The hull is 2 feet shorter than the older boat "USA 76" and features a bow sprit. While this boat was initially believed to have a tandem keel, it is now accepted that the boat uses a conventional single strut keel.
USA 98: USA 98 was delivered in January 2007 to BMW Oracle Racing’s base in New Zealand and was evaluated against USA 71 until transfer to Valencia, Spain for the Louis Vuitton Cup 2007 campaign.
BMW Oracle Racing 90 is a trimaran measuring 90 length-on-waterline and length overall of 100 feet. She was launched on the 22nd of August 2008 in the city of Anacortes, Washington, USA. The boat will be BMW Oracle Racing's entry for a Deed of Gift match against Alinghi that is scheduled to take place in February 2010 in Valencia. BOR 90 was dismasted while testing on Nov 3, 2009. The broken mast was replaced by a wing which is 190 feet (58 m) tall and some 80 percent larger than the wing of a Boeing 747 airplane, making it the largest rigid wing ever fit to any sailboat.
The Wing
On Sunday, November 8, 2009 BMW Oracle Racing revealed the replacement to their mast that broke on November 3, 2009. Instead of using cloth-like sails, they are using a hard surface shaped like a wing. The wing can change shape so that the boat can sail at different angles to the wind. This allows it to sail in any direction that a conventional sailboat could go. The wing is very high aspect, meaning that it is very tall and narrow. It is 190 feet tall and is 80% larger in area than the wing on a 747. This allows the airfoil to be very efficient (producing lots of lift with minimal drag). The wing is currently being tested on BMW Oracle's 90 foot trimaran to see if it will be more efficient than a traditional soft-sail rig setup. On November 10, BMW reported that they hit 32 mph boat speed while highest reported wind speed during this time was less than 10 knots. [2]
http://www.sailinganarchy.com/fringe/2009/wing%20front.jpg
References
- ^ http://www.ggyc.com/GGYC%20STATEMENT%2015%20DEC%202009%20FINAL.pdf
- ^ http://bmworacleracing.com/en/news/archive/index.html?track.refer=/en/frame/overview/top_americas_cup.4ml&track.type=hn
External links
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